Scoop-and-score seals Aggies’ win

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Micheal Clemons scored the game’s only touchdown on a 24-yard fumble return early in the fourth quarter, and No. 14 Texas A&M beat No. 13 Auburn 20-3 on Saturday.

Clemons’ scoop-and-score came after defensive tackle Jayden Peevy poked the ball away from scrambling Auburn quarterback Bo Nix. Clemons, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive end, picked up the ball and sprinted to the end zone, diving to the ground after he crossed the goal line.

“That was a heck of a football game,” Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher said. “That was a heck of a win. That was a lot of guts, that was physicality, that was toughness, that was competitiveness, which it took in this game to do the things we had to do, and I can’t be more proud of those guys.”

Zach Calzada finished 15 of 29 for 192 yards for Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2 SEC), shaking off an apparent injury to his left, non-throwing shoulder in the third quarter. His performance was good enough for the Aggies to survive a defensive battle between the two highest-ranked two-loss teams in the country.

“He ain’t always perfect, but let me tell you what, that’s a competitor,” Fisher said. “That guy has got arm talent, he can throw the football, he can make plays, he’s a competitor, and he’s a tough guy.”

Auburn (6-3, 3-2) had its four-game winning streak in College Station snapped.

“I just don’t think that we found that play, that momentum, that spark to really get us — on the offensive side — going,” Auburn Coach Bryan Harsin said. “We had plenty of self-inflicted wounds that we had in there — dropped passes, we lost the ball, we fumbled it. There were plenty of things that we could control that we didn’t help ourselves with.”

NO. 1 GEORGIA 43, MISSOURI 6

ATHENS, Ga. — Stetson Bennett passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to former starter JT Daniels, leading Georgia past Missouri.

The game opened new questions for Georgia at quarterback while affirming the Bulldogs’ season-long defensive dominance. Missouri was held to 273 yards of total offense in Georgia’s seventh game of the season allowing no more than 10 points.

Georgia (9-0, 7-0) scored 40 consecutive points after Missouri (4-5, 1-4) took a 3-0 lead.

Missouri’s Tyler Badie, the SEC’s leading rusher, was held to 41 yards on the ground.

NO. 2 ALABAMA 20, LSU 14

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Bryce Young passed for 302 yards and No. 2 Alabama’s defense came up with enough big plays for a 20-14 victory over heavy underdog LSU on Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide (8-1, 5-1) preserved their national championship hopes in a game that was as tight as some meetings when both were nursing such ambitions. The injury-depleted Tigers (4-5, 2-4) and lame-duck Coach Ed Orgeron didn’t act like underdogs.

It wasn’t over until the final play, a Hail Mary that fell incomplete in the end zone. The Tigers came up empty in three fourth-quarter trips into Alabama territory, including that quick venture to the 30 in the final minute.

Young, the Heisman Trophy front-runner, completed 24 of 37 passes with a couple of touchdowns, including a 58-yarder to Jameson Williams. Williams caught 10 passes for 160 yards. LSU harried Young all night and held Brian Robinson Jr. to 18 yards on 13 carries.

But Alabama returned the favor with Will Anderson Jr. racking up 12 tackles, 11/ 2 sacks and four tackles for loss.

Max Johnson completed 16 of 32 passes for 160 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception for LSU. Tyrion Davis-Price ran for 104 yards.

NO. 16 MISSISSIPPI 27, LIBERTY 14

OXFORD, Miss. — Matt Corral threw for 324 yards and a touchdown to lead Mississippi past Liberty (7-3) and former Rebels Coach Hugh Freeze.

Corral completed 20 of 27 passes, including six completions of 20-plus yards.

The Rebels (7-2) raced to a 24-0 halftime lead, highlighted by a 70-yard touchdown run by Jerrion Ealy on the game’s second play.

TENNESSEE 45, NO. 18 KENTUCKY 42

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Hendon Hooker threw a career-high four touchdown passes, including a 6-yard insurance score to Cedric Tillman early in the fourth quarter, and Tennessee held off No. 18 Kentucky 45-42 on Saturday night to halt a twogame losing streak.

The Volunteers (5-4, 3-3) emerged from a bye to strike quickly in a back-and-forth game between border rivals that totaled 1,073 yards combined. They needed just three plays and 37 seconds to score their first two TDs, drove 35 yards in 16 seconds for a go-ahead field goal before halftime, and ticked off only 37 seconds on the way to another go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter.

Hooker’s final TD to Tillman with 11:40 remaining proved to be the biggest as Kentucky (6-3, 4-3) got within a field goal on Will Levis’ 24-yard touchdown toss to Izayah Cummings. The Wildcats got one last chance after Chase McGrath’s missed field goal but couldn’t take advantage, turning the ball over on downs with 29 seconds left.

It was Tennessee’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2018, also against Kentucky.

SOUTH CAROLINA 40, FLORIDA 17

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jason Brown threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns and South Carolina’s defense shut down Florida to hand the Gators their first threegame losing streak since 2017.

Kevin Harris and ZaQuandre White each ran for over 100 yards, receiver Josh Vann had seven catches for 111 yards and a touchdown and kicker Parker White had a career-high four field goals for South Carolina (5-4, 2-4 SEC) in pummeling the Gators (4-5, 3-4).

Brown became the Gamecocks’ third starting passer this season and the FCS transfer made his first SEC start an eye-opening one.

Brown, who last played at St. Francis, steadily led South Carolina on five firsthalf scoring drives for a 30-10 lead at the break.

The Gamecocks’ defense did the rest, holding the normally fiery Florida offense to just 82 yards rushing and becoming the first team this season to outgain the Gators, 459-340.